Bio:

I am the Interim Director of the Gerontology Program (housed in the Department of
Health Science in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts) at San Jose State University.
In this capacity, I meet with students completing the minor in Gerontology and students
completing Health Science Option 3 (BS in Health Science with a Concentration on Gerontology).
I supervise students completing their fieldwork through the Gerontology Program (GERO
133) and also administer the Certificate in Applied Social Gerontology for those students
completing graduate level coursework in gerontology as part of a graduate degree (e.g.,
MSW, MS in Nutrition and Food Sciences).

At SJSU, I teach a number of courses including Human Lifespan (GERO/HS/HRTM 15), Healthcare Economics (HS 170), and Human Sexuality (ANTH/BIOL/HS 140). The lives and experiences of older people are central in each
of these courses. Additionally, I teach Age and Social Relations (GRN 820) in the San Francisco State University graduate program in Gerontology (located
in the School of Social Work). I am currently developing a course on aging and sexuality
for this program.

My research interests include: qualitative methodologies, disability as a social category
and an axis of inequality, social theories of aging, HIV in older people, social citizenship
and the role of the state in distributive justice, and sexuality studies. I am currently
engaged in a qualitative research project on the federal-level efforts to mandate
Medicaid community-based attendant services and supports for older people and people
with disabilities. I am also working on a new project looking at the experiences of
social isolation in older people living with HIV/AIDS.

Since 2007, I have served as one of the co-conveners for the Rainbow Research Group
of the Gerontological Society of America, working on increasing the visibility of
research on aging in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and communities.
On campus at SJSU, my service commitments have included organizing the Gerontology
program to participate in the SJSU Day of Service and serving on the Planning Committee
for SJSU's 2009 celebration of Careers in Aging Week.

On a personal note, I reside in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco with my boyfriend,
Malcolm, and the many fish that live in our two aquaria.